Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Short Interest Up 18.5% in January

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 23,930,000 shares, a growth of 18.5% from the January 15th total of 20,200,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 4,060,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.9 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

• MarketBeat Week in Review – 10/28 - 11/1

In other news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $2,317,691.25. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 374,134 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,994,228.50. The trade was a 12.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $2,150,709.75. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 165,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,064,822.25. This trade represents a 23.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 299,014 shares of company stock valued at $12,782,849 over the last quarter. Insiders own 4.70% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Viking Therapeutics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 124.6% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the period. Stone House Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 66.7% during the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, CNB Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

• Viking Therapeutics Stock: A Pre-Election Bet Worth Considering

VKTX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 7th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $38.00 price target on the stock. B. Riley reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $96.00 price objective (down previously from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday. They set a "sector outperform" rating and a $102.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $97.29.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Viking Therapeutics

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

• Is Viking Therapeutics Ready For Another Surge?

Viking Therapeutics stock traded up $0.98 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $30.48. The stock had a trading volume of 3,279,795 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,270,754. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $37.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $52.88. Viking Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $28.64 and a twelve month high of $99.41. The firm has a market cap of $3.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -30.48 and a beta of 0.90.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.25) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics will post -1.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Viking Therapeutics

Viking Therapeutics, Inc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development of novel therapies for metabolic and endocrine disorders. The company's lead drug candidate is VK2809, an orally available tissue and receptor-subtype selective agonist of the thyroid hormone receptor beta (TRß), which is in Phase IIb clinical trials to treat patients with biopsy-confirmed non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, as well as NAFLD.

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